The present invention concerns an automatic distributor of fish food, also known as a xe2x80x9cmangerxe2x80x9d.
The fish food distributors are placed over the aquariums and they consist of a container for fish food which is filled with fish food of the type in accordance to the kind of fish which are to be fed and it is closed by a cover. Near the free edge of the container, there is an opening for the exit of fish food. The container is rotating around its rotation axis which is horizontally placed. The rotation of the container is made by an electric motor which, by means of the intermediate mechanisms and transmission members, transmits the motion from the electric motor to the rotation axis of the container. Upon every rotation of the container, a predetermined amount of fish food comes out from the opening and falls into the aquarium.
In order to programme the frequency at which the fish food is supplied, there is a control system which consists of an electronic card PCB (printed circuit board) and a lighting display on which the programmed data, inserted by a knob, appear. The distributor may be programmed to distribute at various time: for example it is possible to programme one feeding every 8 hours, and thus every 8 hours the container makes one revolution; it is possible also to double the amount by simply making the container do two revolutions every 8 hours.
The electric motor, the electronic card and the lighting display are all supplied by an electric battery. In the end, all the components, that is the electric motor, the transmission members, the container with the cover, the electronic card, the lighting display and the electric battery are mounted on a suitable support.
However, the distributors of fish food of the prior art described above have quite a lot of drawbacks, which emerge during the construction of the distributor and during its use. In fact, the mechanism and the transmission members used for transmitting the motion from the electric motor to the container are composed of several gears as well as crown gears, helicoidal screws, toothed wheels, pinions and other things which make the construction and the mounting very difficult. Consequently, the final cost of the product increases and, the reliability decreases due to the wear and the clearance between the gears; the device is liable to break or however malfunction, thus compromising its rightful use. The use of such a high number of gears increases the volume and then the dimension of the product causing a xe2x80x9cvisual nuisancexe2x80x9d, thus damaging the beauty of the aquarium. It is possible to reduce the dimension of the container but in doing so, the maximum amount of fish food, which could be put in, decreases. At the same time the self-sufficiency of the distributor reduces, hence compelling the user to fill up the container more frequently.
The automatic distributor is provided with a sophisticated electronic card because it functions as a programme and the distributor is also provided with a lighting display in order to visualize the input data.
It is easy to understand that the cost of such a simple device, such as an automatic distributor for fish food, may notably increase.
Furthermore, the automatic distributors of the prior art have a limitation due to the fact that it is difficult to dose the amount of fish food in the proper way upon each rotation of the container. In fact, fish food may vary a lot, both in the shape and in the dimension depending on the kind of fish, on their dimension and number.
In particular, the shape of fish food may be quite different, such as pellets, flakes and tablets.
Moreover moisture, always in existence in the upper part of the aquarium, covers the external surface of the container, and during the rotation of the container flows along its external surface until reaching the opening where the fish food comes out. Moisture comes into contact with the fish food making it sticky and, thus, the fish food adheres to the distributor, hindering the exit of fish food.
The main scope of the invention is to obtain a distributor which is made up of only a few components and thus simpler, hence facilitating the construction and mounting operations and, thus, less liable to break or malfunction and therefore more reliable. The distributor must have reduced dimensions.
Another aim of the invention is to permit the regulation of the distributor according to the kind of fish food contained in the container so as to regulate the amount of fish food in the correct manner.
Another aim is to prevent moisture from hindering the exit of fish food form the container.
Finally, the invention must allow for further simplification the distributor, making it unnecessary to use the lighting display and only necessitating a simplified electronic card.
The aim is achieved by an automatic distributor of fish food for aquariums of the initially described type, that comprises a container for fish food rotating around a substantially horizontal rotation axis and provided with an opening, near the free end of the container, for the exit of fish food by gravity, a cover for said container, motor means provided with a rotation axis and transmission means for transmitting the motion from said motor means to said container, control means for programming the rotation of said container, characterized in that said container has at the bottom a recess forming a housing for said motor means and said transmission means, and also that said rotation axis of the container is aligned with said motor axis of said motor means.
In such a way the transmission from the motor means and the container is remarkably simplified and, moreover, being contained inside the container, permits it to optimize the available space thus reducing the overall dimensions of the distributor.
In particular the motor means and the transmission means consist of a motoreducer thus reducing the number of the components utilized and further simplifying the distributor, thus making it very simple.
Preferably, the cover and the container are provided with regulatory setting means for the passage way for the exit, by gravity, of fish food through the opening of the container.
Therefore, depending on the type, or better the shape of fish food and its dimension, the outlet is set in the proper manner by regulatory setting means.
Furthermore, the support means comprise a tab adjustable between two positions, a first position or rest position wherein the tab covers the lower portion of said container at the area where the fish food comes out and, a second position or operative position wherein the tab does not cover the lower portion of said container at the area where the fish food comes out, said tab being shifted to the opened position by the rotation of said container and shifted to the closed position by elastic means.
The tab covers the area where the fish food comes out, when the container has already discharged fish food, thus preventing that moisture, existing in the aquarium comes into contact with the external surface of the container and, hence limiting the possibility that moisture enters in the container through the opening where the fish food comes out.
These and other advantages of the present invention may be more evident by the following detailed description of some embodiments given for an illustrative and not limitative purpose with reference to the subsequent enclosed drawings wherein: